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There's a tenderness in the breeze that sweeps through Leon's dirty blond bang; and Ashley was jealous that it was air and not her flesh, not the tips of her trembling fingers. Could she become the wind if she wished hard enough on the last sparkling stars submitting to the rising sun? Would the universe give her this one thing after she's been through hell and back?
Ah, well. Maybe it's not so bad to be standing there instead, body and soul. At this angle, just right under his nose, she could see the blue in his eyes, and in the ocean, and in the bruises littering his collar. And the exhaustion. She could see the demand of the mission on his cracked lips and his furrowed brows.
There was noise before, she thinks. The sound of police sirens, and a helicopter being prepped. The sound of voices, rescue workers and government agents. The press, the click of cameras. The soft rustle of sand meeting muted waves. None of it meant much to Ashley. It all felt so far away, an echo of the reality that waits after this… What was this?
A goodbye.
It was a goodbye. It was always going to be a goodbye. From the moment she met him, she knew there would be a goodbye. A good one or a bad one was the gamble, but the fate was left unchanged. Written in the very bones of the fantastical story they seemed to embody. A knight, a princess, a villain, a dragon, a rescue. A hero.
And the hero has to move on eventually.
She could see it in his smile; He didn't want to let her down. The offer on the jet ski, it was rejected before it was even something physical enough to hold in her hands. It was a foolish attempt at keeping him close just a little bit longer; and god, it almost worked. The subtle pause in his response, and the hitch in his breathing following after. Even now, the turning cogs in his head were almost apparent on his face. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to make it work. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to explain why it wouldn't.
Ashley knew it was a lost cause either way. He wasn't good with his words like that. She knew a lot of things about him, really. Knew that when he fidgeted with his left glove like he was now, he was nervous. He didn't like goodbyes either, it seemed. For a suspended moment, she hoped it was because of her.
" Home sweet home, huh? " Came out weak, slightly breathy, through Ashley's half smile. Leon returned it with one of his own, lopsided with a peek of his teeth. Almost boyish in it's sincerity.
" Yea. Home safe. Just like I said. " And suddenly, Ashley Graham wasn't the president's daughter, a ward of upmost political importance. And Leon Kennedy wasn't a government agent, sworn to protect a country who saw him as a disposable unit. They were just two people, standing in front of the sea, memorizing the details of a face they'll burn into the back of their eyelids so they'll never forget it.
" About the, uh… The thing I said, earlier. You can just forget it. I mean, if you want. It was dumb, really. " An uneasy chuckle followed, her chest dipping in a breath before lips part to continue. Words, however, are lost on her when warm, familiar palms ghost over her shoulder, separated by a blanket just large enough to wrap around herself in a feeble attempt to escape the early morning chill.
The silence that follows is vast, almost cavernous in it's depth. Embarrassment flushes her cheeks, and she'll blame it on the cold if he asked. But he didn't. Of course he didn't. He knew a lot about her too. Seconds stretch into minutes, and she finds herself lost in the texture of her shoes, dreading the inevitability of it all. It will end. They will end. This moment, albeit awkward, will end.
" I don't want to. " Leon whispers, just above a breath, almost too quiet to hear over the swoosh of water. But her eyes shoot up anyways, searching for a lie that does not exist behind his gaze that never lingered from her.
" Leon? "
" You're the best partner I've ever had, Ash. "
He doesn't continue. She doesn't need him to. It was a confession, a rejection, a goodbye, and a see you later all at once. A hope blossoms in her chest. A shift in their lines; A curve in their otherwise straight intersection. And with it, a smile so soft and warm it beats the sun is offered to him. Her own answer. One that speaks beyond verbal affections.
Her grip on the blanket falls, instead finding his fidgeting hands to hold. Green meets blue. Forest meets ocean. Princess meets knight. Girl meets boy.
" Thank you. "
There's nothing in specific she thanks him for. Maybe it's for the rescue. Or his kind words. Maybe it's just his simple presence, before she's thrust back into the world of reality. Maybe it's for his own reluctance to say goodbye, so she knows she's not alone in this feeling. He has a whole different universe waiting for him, one full of military cots and bioterrorism and saving people, and she thought it'd be foolish to hope he'd make a little space for her in that kind of life.
But it's hard to think that now when he flips their palms and tangles his fingers through hers. Just for a moment. Just for a squeeze.
" Don't get into anymore trouble, 'Kay? " He teases, and she finds comfort in how easy it is to roll her eyes at him.
" Take your own advice, Leon. "
Last words are hard to swallow when you don't know you're saying them. He doesn't get a chance to respond before she's gently taken by the elbow towards the helicopter. As soon as she steps away, she realizes just how cold it is. She can see her father through the cracked open door, waving at her with tears in his eyes. She didn't realize her own tears stained dirt-streaked cheeks until her face was nestled in the collar of her father's linen shirt.
There was a lot to cry about. She was home. She was okay. She was alive. She was in her father's arms, secure and far away from the rough ropes that rubbed her wrists raw and the creaking stone that kept her locked away for weeks. She just said goodbye to Leon Kennedy.
She never liked goodbyes, but as she craned her head backwards to find the familiar blue shore, she had a feeling that maybe this wasn't really a goodbye after all.